Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c30.205

v2.c30.205

Bhaddiya was the son of Kāligodhā, the senior Sākyan lady of her time. For five hundred births Bhaddiya had been king, hence his eminence in this life, though there were others more aristocratic.³ His resolve to gain this distinction was formed in the time of Padumuttara Buddha, when he was born in a very rich family and did various good deeds towards that end. In the interval between Kassapa Buddha and Gotama Buddha, he was a householder of Benares and, discovering that Pacceka Buddhas took their meals on the banks of the Ganges, placed seven stone planks for them to sit on.⁴ When Bhaddiya was ruling his Sākyan principality he had as general Soṇa-Poṭiriyaputta, who later joined the Order.⁵ Anuruddha was Bhaddiya’s great friend, and when Anuruddha wished to renounce the world, his mother agreed only on condition that Bhaddiya should accompany him, hoping, in this way, to hold him back. But Anuruddha overcame all Bhaddiya’s objections and persuaded him to renounce the household life within a week. It is said⁶ that Bhaddiya attained arahantship in the first rainy season after his ordination.